


a child of surprise

by titaniumsansa



Category: Young Justice (Cartoon), Young Justice - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Canon, Alternate Universe - Parents, Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Canon Related, Children of Characters, F/F, Magic, Minor Original Character(s), Not Canon Compliant, Snaibsel, Surprises, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-15
Updated: 2020-04-15
Packaged: 2021-03-01 17:27:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,353
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23650816
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/titaniumsansa/pseuds/titaniumsansa
Summary: A magical mishap leads some members of the Team to see surprising glimpses of their future.
Relationships: Artemis Crock/Zatanna Zatara
Comments: 3
Kudos: 49





	a child of surprise

**Author's Note:**

  * For [sunkelles](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunkelles/gifts).



> AN: Sunkelles, I wondered, what better way to say happy birthday by writing your OC? I hope this fic is also, full of surprise. :D

There's no such thing as the Force. Even as much as some of her friends from the Team have asked about it, it isn't real. Wally would make lightsaber noises and talk about how magic is a science that'll be investigated scientifically someday. Dick would shrug and just accept the fact the world is full of unexplained things. Roll with the punches. Artemis would ask another question or two, leaning in with interest. Kaldur and M'gann never questioned her magic like they never questioned the source of their powers, it's just innate to them. Conner was never interested.

Still, Zatanna feels her heart clench as  _ something _ shifts. It reminds her of the time the worlds were split. She lost her father to Nabu. Her head hurts, and she looks around the Watch Tower for a moment, to see if anyone else has been affected. It could have been an attack on the League, she needs to do a sit rep, she needs to check on everyone else, and she blinks.

There's a child in front of her. A child, on the Watch Tower. There's no way an average child could just sneak in. Barely anyone knows about this place.

"M'gann?" she asks hesitantly. The little girl can't be older than first grade, with black hair, and familiar blue eyes. She's wearing a silver arrow necklace, green shirt, and jeans.

The girl juts her lip out and frowns at her.

"I'm not Auntie Megan. I'm me," she tells Zatanna.

"And who are you?" Zatanna asks, gently. This gets the girl to frown fully.

"Mommy, it's me. Zelda," the girl insists.

Zatanna's mind stops for a moment. This could be a trap but she sees so much of what she looked like as a child in this little girl. She's ven giving her that motion that she wants to be picked up. Her dad used to call that motion "uppy arms" when she was little. The thought makes her chest hurt. Maybe she can take the child to M'gann or J'onn to see what's happening. She picks up the girl who beams at her when she's picked up.

"Do you want to see Auntie Megan?" Zatanna asks as she walks through the Tower. Zelda nods. M'gann is a hard name to get used to, and it makes sense that her child if this is her child, would know M'gann.

"Who else do you wanna see?" Zatanna wonders in a warm tone. M'gann isn't in the next room either. Zatanna pulls out her phone to send a text.

_ Is there any way you can come to the Watch Tower? I have a situation. _

She sends the text and gets an almost immediate response.

_ The world's having a situation right now. Join us in the Cave. _

The little girl in her arms has only been with her for a few minutes but she's the first thing Zatanna thinks of losing. Zelda's curled into her, fists attached to her suit jacket, content to just watch her.

Her child. This could be her child. Zatanna wonders if she had a child alone or if Zelda has another parent. She's been interested in a few people but she hasn't had any long term relationships yet.

"I'm gonna take us to the Cave okay? Hold on tight," Zatanna warns. Zelda moves her head quickly in alarm.

"The Cave doesn't exist. It was destroyed," Zelda frowns. Zatanna feels her eyes widen.

"The Cave exists. That's where Auntie M'gann is right now," Zatanna explains. Zelda shakes her head.

"The bad guys blew it up before I was born. A long time ago," Zelda insists. Zatanna likes to think her bullshit detector is a finely tuned instrument, but this little girl believes wholeheartedly the Cave no longer exists. Something clicks in her brain.

"Zelda, what year is it?"

"2026," Zelda answers. Zatanna pales. It's almost _ 2016. _

"Hold onto me, we're gonna go to the Cave, okay?" Zatanna tells her. Zelda nods expectantly.

Zatanna's not sure what she expected to see when she appeared in the Cave, but the presence of another child is startling.

"Auntie Megan!" Zelda yells. M'gann's eyes widen in surprise before she shifts her face into a smile. M'gann has green skin but that doesn't phase the child in Zatanna's arms in the slightest. 

" _ Zelda _ has wanted to see you since she arrived," Zatanna tells her. M'gann gets the hint. Conner's holding a baby in his arm and looks up at her arrival. Thankfully, the baby seems undisturbed as Conner rocks it carefully. There's an adoration in his eyes that Zatanna hasn't seen before. Before today she wouldn't have thought of herself as a parent either, but Conner could make a great dad. She wonders if he's a single dad or if it appeared with M'gann. 

While Zelda talks to M'gann excitedly, Zatanna gestures for M'gann to read her mind.

"I'm gonna send a group text for everyone to meet up here. We need a game plan," Conner says. His serious tone is undercut a bit by the sleeping baby in his arms, but Zatanna nods anyway.

_ The baby is apparently mine. He looks just like Conner. I don't know what's going on but children that shouldn't exist have been appearing all over the world. It's like the whole world is off-kilter. Thankfully no one's reporting deaths but I don't know what the League's planning to do. Was there anyone else in the Watch Tower when you left?  _ M'gann thinks.

_ Not that I saw. Is she actually mine? Are they tricks? Magic? Hallucinations? Any idea?  _ Zatanna thinks back.

_ She's yours. She has memories of you and the Team. And there's something you really should know.  _ M'gann thinks.

"I wanna be set down," Zelda tells her and Zatanna sets her down in one of the chairs nearby. Out of the corner of her eye, she watches some of the news in front of the multiple screens in front of Conner. No one's sure what to make of this. The computer announces multiple arrivals and M'gann tries to tell her something, but she watches Zelda get out of her chair and run to greet them.

_ I really need to tell you something. _ M'gann thinks. 

Artemis, Dick, Kaldur, and Roy appear from the zeta tube in costume. Confusion that must have been clear on her face a few minutes ago is plastered on theirs, as they look to the baby and then to Zelda.

"Mom!" Zelda grins, standing in front of Artemis.

_ Is that. Is that what you want to tell me? _ Zatanna wonders.

Artemis shoots them a confused look. Zelda pouts at her.

"Moooom," she complains, looking up at Artemis. 

Artemis hasn't looked away from Zatanna, Zelda looks so much like her, and Zatanna knows she needs to speak.

_ Yes. _ M'gann thinks.

"This is our daughter from 2026. Zelda Zatara," Zatanna explains. Artemis freezes. 

"Is she-how?" Artemis asks. The others look at Zelda and then to Conner and the unfortunately nameless baby.

"Probably magic. This reeks of Klarion," Zatanna muses.

"So she's not-" Artemis trails off. Zelda decides to tug on Kaldur's leg for attention while she's being ignored. Zatanna can't help the smile on her face as she sees Kaldur soften and talk to Zelda about the ocean.

"She is. Yours, I mean. If Zatanna's right that the cause is Klarion or magic, he might have just messed with timelines somehow. Zelda has memories of you both and information about the League and Team that isn't public information. I doubt the Light has access to that sort of thing either, considering how much I saw," M'gann tells her gently. Artemis's eyebrows scrunch together. Zatanna moves to stand next to her as they watch Zelda in a mixture of awe and confusion. Other Team members might be tied up with their own surprises, Zatanna thinks. The League is visible helping on a few screens but she's surprised there hasn't been an official directive from any of the other League members yet. 

"Where's Lian?" Zelda asks Roy expectantly.

"She's with her mom right now," Roy explains. It's reassuring to know that Zelda knows Lian in the future. Assurance from a source he never would have expected.

"Which mom? Both of them or one of them?" Zelda asks. Roy laughs uncomfortably.

"She just has Jade as her mom and me as her dad," Roy explains. Zelda rolls her eyes at him, uncaring of all the eyes watching her.

"No, she has you and Jade and her other mom and Kaldur. You and Kaldur have her sometimes and sometimes she's with her moms," Zelda explains. Kaldur shoots a look to Roy who looks equally mystified.

"M'gann you're sure this is all real?" Roy wonders. M'gann sighs before nodding.

"At least, it's all real to her but there's a very real possibility all of these children are actually from the future," M'gann reminds them. Dick blinks.

"Let's get the avengers assembled and fix this," Roy sighs.

"If this is mystical, I'm sure you'll be needed. I can hang with Zelda for a bit, if you want Zee," Artemis offers. 

Dick's phone beeps a few times. He blinks in surprise before sending a text back.

"What was that?" Conner asks.

"I apparently have a few new siblings," Dick answers. A few people laugh, Batman does love collecting sidekicks after all. It makes sense that at least Batman is occupied right now, but still, Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Arrow, no one's texted the Team yet.

Zelda tugs on Artemis's arm.

"Can we make brownies?"

"Yeah, let's go to the kitchen and see if there's stuff to make 'em," Artemis says. Zelda leads the way immediately. There isn't much time to think about it.

Zatanna. Dating Zatanna. Being with Zatanna long enough to decide on having children, but staying in the League. If Zelda is the real deal, she's given Artemis a lot to consider. The world is tilting on its axis but Zelda knows where everything is, using a step stool to get out bowls and measuring spoons and cups. Artemis watches her. If Zatanna had her, then maybe Artemis didn't pass on any of her DNA. There might not be any trace of Sportsmaster in her. Artemis reaches to find ingredients, while there isn't a boxed brownie mix, there are the individual ingredients. That does buy them a little more time to themselves. 

"Do you want to make a big batch for everyone?" Artemis asks. Zelda nods seriously.

"Yes. Of course. We always want more brownies," Zelda answers. Artemis can't argue with that. Artemis looks up a recipe on her phone and doubles it on the site. Zelda is keen to pour in the vanilla extract and dump in the premeasured ingredients Artemis has set aside. 

"Maybe we can bring some to Grandma or Grandpa," Zelda says. Artemis stops measuring the cocoa powder as she thinks of a way to figure out who they are without revealing that she doesn't know.

"Tell me what you like about them," Artemis says instead.

"I like Grandma because she teaches me how to cook and she's funny. Grandpa is fun because he teaches me magic and shows me the bunnies," Zelda says matter of factly, sprinkling in a dash of salt.

She hasn't exposed her child to Sportsmaster. In the future, he might know of her, but they haven't met, at least that Zelda can remember.

"Maybe we will bring them some brownies," Artemis smiles. Her mother would ask questions she doesn't have answers to if she showed up on her doorstep with her apparent daughter. Not that she'd blame her, but Zelda should be a surprise for another day. A day where she's ready to have a child with Zatanna. The thought makes her stare at the kitchen cabinets for a moment before Zelda bounces around expectantly.

"Can we add chocolate chips?" Zelda wonders. Artemis smiles in approval and does her best to keep the mood light. Zelda knows all about the future, Artemis could have all the answers she wants, all she has to do is ask. Zelda dumps in the entire bag of chocolate chips into the batter and Artemis laughs. 

Artemis slides the first pan of brownies into the oven and Zelda looks at her. The arrow necklace catches the light and she can't help but smile.

"Are there any legos here?" Zelda wonders.

* * *

The world shifts back again. She watches the baby disappear out of Conner's arms. There's a grief in her chest about the fact she didn't get to say goodbye to Zelda. Doctor Fate disappears too but someone's arms wrap around her anyway. Zatanna blinks to see Artemis.

"Is it weird I sort of miss her? Despite not knowing how to be a mom?" Zatanna asks. Artemis shakes her head.

"I sort of miss her too," Artemis admits. 

There's good news to this grief though. It's temporary. Zatara is freed from Doctor Fate by the time Zelda's that age. She's looking at Zatanna in a new light. Despite their current breakup, Conner and M'gann are talking to each other in another corner of the Cave too. The future will come and someday they'll see Zelda again. Zatanna spots brownies on the table.

"Do you wanna, go somewhere and talk? Or just, go somewhere with me?" Zatanna wonders. Artemis nods. Talking sounds good. Just being around Zatanna who can also remember what the little girl who turned their world upside down looks like. Everyone else is dealing with their own issues, this might be the only time to actually talk about what just happened. 

After a change of clothes, Zatanna takes them to the museum that Harm robbed. The memories feel like they're from a decade ago.

"I thought this would be a little less awkward than being completely alone," Zatanna excuses. 

It is. The silence is understandable as they slowly work their way through the building. There are no sororicide power-hungry maniacs here, no couples with strollers to make their hearts hurt, and the conversation comes at their own pace. They'll see Zelda again someday but they have some work to do until then.

**Author's Note:**

> Zelda Zatara is an OC of Sunkelles.


End file.
